Impact Licensing Initiative Launches Comprehensive Toolkit to Advance Responsible Technology Transfer in Europe

Brussels, Belgium – 20 November 2025
The Impact Licensing Initiative (ILI) has released the complete Impact Licensing Toolkit, a set of six practical instruments designed to help technology holders, intermediaries, and innovators adopt responsible and impact-oriented licensing practices. The toolkit provides a structured framework to align technology transfer with social and environmental goals, contributing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Developed under the Horizon Europe ILI project, the toolkit marks a major milestone in building a European ecosystem for impact licensing. Each instrument supports a key step in designing, implementing, and validating technology transfer processes that combine economic value with measurable societal benefit.

“With this toolkit, we aim to guide users through the entire process of evaluating a technology with the goal of creating sustainable, long-term societal value” said Johan Moyersoen, Project Coordinator of the Impact Licensing Initiative.

Six instruments for sustainable technology transfer

The publicly available toolkit, now accessible through the ILI platform, introduces six core instruments:

1. Technology Screening: A structured approach to assess a technology’s potential for societal value creation, linking innovations to relevant UN SDGs and identifying opportunities for responsible deployment.
2. Impact Licensing Builder: A digital design tool for drafting Impact Licensing Agreements that integrate principles such as intentionality, additionality, and measurability.
3. Clearing Houses Framework: Guidelines defining the role of independent intermediary organisations that broker impact licensing agreements and ensure transparency and compliance.
4. Quality Label: A graded certification system (Gold, Silver, Bronze) that benchmarks licensing agreements against quality standards for social and environmental impact.
5. Impact Finance: Practical guidance for integrating impact finance principles into licensing, supporting result-based investment models and measurable social return on assets.
6. Technology and Data Access During Crisis: A framework for enabling rapid and equitable access to critical technologies in times of crisis, strengthening Europe’s resilience.

   From public overview to operational implementation
   

   A public introduction to the toolkit, now available via the ILI platform, offers an accessible overview of the six instruments and their purpose. It is designed to familiarise a broad audience, including innovators, policy actors, and researchers, with the methodology and principles of impact licensing. Alongside it, the Operational Toolkit, a comprehensive set of implementation materials reserved for accredited members of the Impact Licensing Clearing House network. This restricted-access package includes detailed templates, scoring methodologies, and operational procedures that enable Clearing Houses to design, evaluate, and certify Impact Licensing Agreements in practice. Access is limited to accredited Clearing Houses that operate under the supervision of the Impact Licensing Institute. The accreditation of the first Clearing Houses is planned as part of the project’s next phase, paving the way for a coordinated European network that will implement the Impact Licensing framework on the ground.

“One of the main responsibilities of Clearing Houses is to maintain independent oversight, ensuring transparency in the negotiation and enforcement of licensing agreements. By doing so, they help prevent exploitation and safeguard against the misuse of technology” added Moyersoen.

About the Impact Licensing Initiative

The Impact Licensing Initiative (ILI) is an EU-funded coordination and support action (CSA) project under the Horizon Europe Framework Programme. It brings together five international partners, Impact Licensing Initiative (Belgium), European Research and Project Office (EURICE, Germany), Research and Innovation Services (RISE, Croatia), The Data Tank (Belgium), and the University of Cambridge (UK). The initiative aims to establish a sustainable European ecosystem for impact licensing, fostering equitable technology access, responsible IP management, and innovation for societal good.

Learn more

Visit the ILI platform to explore the toolkit and join the Community of Practice: www.impactlicensing.eu

Project Key Facts

• Project Title: Impact Licensing Initiative
• Programme: Horizon Europe
• Duration: 2024–2027
• Funding: EUR 2 million
• Coordinator: Impact Licensing Initiative (Belgium)

Contact

Project Coordination
Impact Licensing Initiative – Johan Moyersoen
johan@impactlicensing.org

Project Management
EURICE – Cemresu Yücebalkan
c.yucebalkan@eurice.eu

Download the press release:
ILI_Press Release_Nov_25.pdf